Ottawa woman speaks first words after double lung transplant

Chloe Fedio and Bruce Deachman, Postmedia News04.16.2012

Helene Campbell underwent lung transplant surgery in Toronto on Good Friday. The 20-year-old Barrhaven woman has been waiting for the operation since last fall, following her diagnosis with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a degenerative lung disease. (Photo: Elisabeth Levesque-Mumford)

OTTAWA — Helene Campbell’s remarkable recovery from a double-lung transplant continues. The 20-year-old Ottawa woman is now breathing on her own, occasionally walking and spoke her first words in more than a week on Saturday.

Doctors at Toronto General Hospital removed the breathing tube, which had been in place since the April 6 operation, at 10:30 on Saturday morning.

“You should have seen the smile on her,” Manon Campbell, Helene’s mother, told the Ottawa Citizen.

“It was unbelievable. “She’s really relieved.”

Helene’s first words in more than a week came next.

“I’m so happy I can breathe.”

Helene was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable and degenerative lung disease, last summer. She was told she needed a transplant to survive.

A social media campaign about organ donation caught the attention of celebrities like Justin Bieber and Ellen DeGeneres, prompting her story to go viral. Her family live-blogged the surgery and has been providing updates on Twitter, Facebook and the A Lung Story website.

“She can now whisper, sounding like Darth Vader with a case of laryngitis and has the craziest ‘big hair’ we’ve ever seen!” said an update written by her family and posted on her website Saturday afternoon.

Campbell tweeted to her to her 13,000 followers soon after.

“Oh my gosh, what a great day! No more tubes, I can breathe! PTL LYLT” she wrote.

Dozens of well wishes poured out in response.

Among them, Jann Arden tweeted: “Such wonderful news! I have been cheering for you and praying for you and sending good vibes your way! Xxx continued good health.”

On Saturday, the family thanked friends and strangers online for their words of encouragement during the “ups and downs” of Helene’s recovery.

“We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love, support and prayers for Helene. Thank you for your encouraging words. Over this past week, we have seen how much she is loved, not just by us, but by all of you and by our Lord.”

Campbell’s mother told the Citizen that Helene is in good spirits.

“She feels wonderful and is smiling all the time, and we’re happy, too. The (ICU) team keeps on saying how well she’s doing every day and how happy they were with her progress.”

Campbell has also been walking a little each day since Wednesday, when she took her first steps since the operation. The more active Helene is, her mother said, the more her lungs will work on their own and require less assistance.

“She knew that all along and wanted to get up last Saturday afternoon — the day after her transplant — but we told her, ‘No, you can’t.’”

Manon said that doctors had hoped to remove Helene’s breathing tube on Thursday, but an increase in her anxiety level coupled with low amounts of sleep — both normal side effects of the steroids and other medication she’s taking — led them to wait a bit longer.

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